U.S. patent application number 12/258462 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-25 for electronic device capable of transferring object between two display units and controlling method thereof.
Invention is credited to Chao-Yi Chen, Chi-Nien Chen, Ming-Yu Chen, Cheng-Chieh Chuang.
Application Number | 20090164930 12/258462 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40673701 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090164930 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chen; Ming-Yu ; et
al. |
June 25, 2009 |
ELECTRONIC DEVICE CAPABLE OF TRANSFERRING OBJECT BETWEEN TWO
DISPLAY UNITS AND CONTROLLING METHOD THEREOF
Abstract
An electronic device includes a housing, a first display unit, a
second display unit, a sensing input unit and a processor. The
first display unit and the second display unit are both disposed on
the housing. The sensing input unit is coupled to the first display
unit and the second display unit, and is used for sensing and
receiving a user input. The user input enables a transferring
behavior of displaying a second object in the second display unit
according to a first object displayed in the first display unit.
The processor is coupled to the first display unit, the second
display unit and the sensing input unit, and is used for
controlling the second display unit according to the user input to
display the second object.
Inventors: |
Chen; Ming-Yu; (Tao-Yuan
City, TW) ; Chen; Chao-Yi; (Tao-Yuan City, TW)
; Chuang; Cheng-Chieh; (Taoyuan County, TW) ;
Chen; Chi-Nien; (Tao-Yuan City, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NORTH AMERICA INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION
P.O. BOX 506
MERRIFIELD
VA
22116
US
|
Family ID: |
40673701 |
Appl. No.: |
12/258462 |
Filed: |
October 27, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
715/769 ;
345/173 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/04883 20130101;
G06F 3/0412 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/769 ;
345/173 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048; G06F 3/041 20060101 G06F003/041 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 25, 2007 |
TW |
096149906 |
Claims
1. An electronic device, comprising: a housing; a first display
unit disposed on the housing; a second display unit disposed on the
housing; a sensing input unit coupled to the first display unit and
the second display unit for sensing and receiving a user input,
wherein the user input enables a transferring behavior of
displaying a second object in the second display unit according to
a first object displayed in the first display unit; and a processor
coupled to the first display unit, the second display unit and the
sensing input unit, for controlling the second display unit to
display the second object according to the user input.
2. The electronic device of claim 1, being a hand-held
communication device or a hand-held computing device.
3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sensing input unit
is a touch sensor, a motion sensor, a light sensor, an ultrasonic
sensor or an image capturer.
4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sensing input unit
is a touch panel, and at least a portion of the touch panel is
positioned on the first display unit.
5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the touch panel is
only positioned on the first display unit.
6. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the touch panel is
positioned on the first display unit and the second display
unit.
7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the transferring
behavior comprises copying, dragging, panning or executing a
program.
8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the sensing input unit
generates at least a detecting value according to the user input,
the processor performs a predetermined operation according to the
detecting value to generate at least a position data, and controls
the second display unit to display the second object according to
the position data.
9. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor further
controls the first display unit to display the first object
continuously while the second display unit is displaying the second
object.
10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein a displayed pattern
of the second object differs from a displayed pattern of the first
object.
11. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor further
controls the first display unit not to display the first object
while the second display unit is displaying the second object.
12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein a displayed pattern
of the second object differs from a displayed pattern of the first
object.
13. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first object
comprising a character, a number, a symbol, a figure or an
animation, and the second object is a character, a number, a
symbol, a figure or an animation.
14. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second display
unit comprising a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) display, a
light emitting display (LED) or a non-volatile display.
15. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the second display
unit is a flexible display, and the electronic device further
comprises a key switch for providing a haptic feedback when the
sensing input unit receives the user input.
16. A display control method, comprising: receiving a first user
input, wherein the user input enables a transferring behavior of
displaying a second object in a second display unit according to a
first object displayed in a first display unit; and controlling the
second display unit to display the second object according to the
first user input.
17. The display control method of claim 16, wherein the step of
controlling the second display unit to display the second object
according to the first user input comprising: generating at least a
first detecting value according to the first user input and
recording the first detecting value; performing a predetermined
operation to the first detecting value to generate at least a first
position data; and controlling the second display unit to display
the second object according to the first position data.
18. The display control method of claim 17, further comprising:
receiving a second user input; generating at least a second
detecting value according to the second user input and recording
the second detecting value; performing the predetermined operation
to the second detecting value to generate at least a second
position data; and controlling the second display unit to
selectively display the second object according to the second
position data.
19. The display control method of claim 16, wherein the
transferring behavior comprises copying, dragging, panning or
executing a program.
20. The display control method of claim 16, further comprising:
controlling the first display unit displaying the first object
continuously while the second display unit is displaying the second
object.
21. The display control method of claim 20, wherein a displayed
pattern of the second object differs from a displayed pattern of
the first object.
22. The display control method of claim 16, further comprising:
controlling the first display unit not to display the first object
while the second display unit is displaying the second object.
23. The display control method of claim 22, wherein a displayed
pattern of the second object differs from a displayed pattern of
the first object.
24. The display control method of claim 16, wherein the first
object comprising a character, a number, a symbol, a figure or an
animation, and the second object comprising a character, a number,
a symbol, a figure or an animation.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The application relates to an electronic device, and more
particularly, to an electronic device having a first display unit,
a second display unit and a sensing input unit, that enables an
object transferring behavior between the first and second display
unit according to a user input sensed and received by the sensing
input unit, and a method thereof.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] In general, there is a primary screen for displaying the
main content and other secondary screens for displaying the
supplementary information in a hand-held electronic device having
screens. Taking a dual-screen flip mobile phone for example, the
user is able to control the displayed content of the primary screen
via an input element of the mobile phone, such as keys on the
mobile phone keypad. However, the user is unable to control the
information of the secondary screen via the input element of the
mobile phone since the secondary screen is only for displaying the
supplementary information, such as time, missed calls, or unread
messages. In other words, the content of the primary screen and the
information of the secondary screen can not communicate or interact
with each other on a conventional dual-screen mobile phone.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It is therefore one of the objectives of the application to
provide an electronic device capable of utilizing a sensing input
unit to enable a transferring behavior of displaying a second
object in a second display unit according to a first object
displayed in a first display unit and a method thereof, in order to
solve the above-mentioned problem. A user can select the
information intended to be displayed on the second display in a
more direct way and interact with the display units. This results
in interest and novelty to the operation.
[0006] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, an electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device
comprises: a housing; a first display unit, disposed on the
housing; a second display unit, disposed on the housing; a sensing
input unit, which is coupled to the first display unit and the
second display unit, and is for sensing and receiving a user input,
wherein the user input enables a transferring behavior of
displaying a second object in the second display unit according to
a first object displayed in the first display unit; and a
processor, which is coupled to the first display unit, the second
display unit and the sensing input unit, and is for controlling the
second display unit to display the second object according to the
user input.
[0007] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention, a display control method is disclosed. The display
control method comprises: receiving a first user input, wherein the
user input enables a transferring behavior of displaying a second
object in a second display unit according to a first object
displayed in a first display unit; and controlling the second
display unit to display the second object according to the first
user input.
[0008] These and other objectives of the application will no doubt
become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading
the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that
is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electronic device
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the electronic
device presented in FIG. 1.
[0011] FIG. 3 is an exploded-view diagram illustrating the
electronic device presented in FIG. 2.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a display control method
according to an embodiment of to the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the electronic device
presented in FIG. 2 executing a transferring behavior.
[0014] FIG. 6 is another diagram illustrating the electronic device
presented in FIG. 2 executing the transferring behavior.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Certain terms are used throughout the description and
following claims to refer to particular components. As one skilled
in the art will appreciate, manufacturers may refer to a component
by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish
between components that differ in name but not function. In the
following description and in the claims, the terms "include" and
"comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be
interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to . . . ".
[0016] Different features of the present invention are detailed as
below with reference to the figures, and for convenience of
explanation, the same elements in different figures have the same
reference numerals.
[0017] Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram
illustrating an electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of
the present invention. As presented in FIG.1, the electronic device
100 comprises a housing 110, a first display unit 120, a second
display unit 130, a sensing input unit 140 and a processor 150. The
first display unit 120 and the second display unit 130 are both
disposed on the housing 110. The sensing input unit 140 is coupled
to the first display unit 120 and the second display unit 130, and
is utilized for sensing and receiving a user input. The user input
enables a transferring behavior of displaying a second object in
the second display unit 130 according to a first object displayed
in the first display unit 120. The processor 150 is coupled to the
first display unit 120, the second display unit 130 and the sensing
input unit 140, and is utilized for controlling the second display
unit 130 to display the second object according to the user input.
In this embodiment, the electronic device 100 is a bar-type
electronic device; this is, however, merely for illustrative
purposes, and is not a limitation of the application. In other
embodiments, the electronic device 100 can be a hand-held
communication device, a hand-held computing device and a personal
digital assistant (PDA).
[0018] Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. FIG. 2 is a schematic
diagram illustrating the electronic device 100. FIG. 3 is an
exploded-view diagram illustrating the electronic device 100. In
this embodiment, the first display unit 120 is a primary display
screen; the second display unit 130 is a secondary display screen,
and the sensing input unit 140 is a touch panel. As presented in
FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the sensing input unit 140 (i.e., the touch
panel) covers both the first display unit 120 and the second
display unit 130. However, this is merely for illustrative
purposes, and is not a limitation of the application. In other
embodiments, the sensing input unit may only cover the first
display unit. In practice, only a portion of the sensing input unit
positioned on top of the first display unit is also acceptable. For
example, a portion of the sensing input unit is positioned on the
first display unit but not all the first display is covered by the
sensing input unit. In addition, in other embodiments of the
present invention, the electronic device comprises a first sensing
input unit and a second sensing input unit. The first sensing input
unit covers the first display unit, and the second sensing input
unit covers the second display unit. This alternative design also
falls within the scope of the application.
[0019] Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a
display control method according to an embodiment of to the present
invention. The steps of the display control method are as
follows:
[0020] Step 400: A first display unit displays a first object.
[0021] Step 410: Is there any user input detected? If yes, go to
step 420; otherwise, back to step 410 to continuously detect
whether there is a user input;
[0022] Step 420: Generate at least a detecting value according to
the user input and record the detecting value;
[0023] Step 430: Perform a predetermined operation to the detecting
value to generate at least a position data;
[0024] Step 440: Control a second display unit to display a second
object according to the position data.
[0025] Further description of the operation of the electronic
device 100 of the application is detailed below with reference to
FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. To make the concept of the application
easily appreciable, a figure taken as the first object displayed on
the first display unit 120 is utilized in the following embodiment
to illustrate the present invention; this is, however, for
illustrative purposes and not a limitation of the application. In
other embodiments, for example, the first display unit 120 can be a
character, a number, a symbol, an animation and so on. In addition,
since the application emphasizes the transferring behavior between
the two display units, it is not limited to control the second
display unit according to the detecting value generated from the
first display unit. In other words, the first display unit can be
controlled according to a detecting value generated from the second
display unit.
[0026] In the electronic device 100, the sensing input unit 140
detects whether there is a user input inputted (Step 410) while the
first display unit 120 displays a first object (Step 400). When a
user uses his or her finger to select the first object on the first
display unit 120 and drags or moves the first object via the finger
on top of the sensing input unit 140 (i.e., the touch panel), as
presented in FIG. 5, the sensing input unit 140 detects a user
input (selection and movement), and the processor 150 generates a
detecting value according to the user input and records the
detecting value (Step 420). For example, in this embodiment, the
detecting value corresponds to the position where the touch panel
is last touched by the finger prior to the finger moving off the
touch panel, as presented in FIG. 6. Next, the processor 150
performs a predetermined operation to the detecting value to
generate at least a position data (x, y) (Step 430), which
indicates the position where a second object is to be displayed on
the second display unit 130. Lastly, the processor 150 controls the
second display unit 130 to display the second object according to
the position data (Step 440). Please note that user is not limited
to using a finger to control the electronic device 100. In
practice, a user is able to use any pointer capable of being
detected by the sensing input unit 140, such as a stylus, to
control the electronic device 100, and drag or move the selected
object to a designated position as in the steps 400.about.440
presented in FIG. 4. In addition, the user input can also enable a
transferring behavior of displaying a third object, which is
intended to be displayed in the first display unit 120, according
to the second object displayed in the second display unit 130.
After reading the above-mentioned description for the operation of
the electronic device 100, a corresponding method for how to enable
the transferring behavior of displaying the third object in the
first display unit 120 according to the second object displayed in
the second display unit 130 should be readily appreciated by those
skilled in the art, so further description is omitted here for the
sake of brevity.
[0027] As mentioned above, the position data (x, y) is used to
determine where the selected object is moved to. However, if the
sensing input unit doesn't cover both display units or there are
two independent sensing input units, for example, (a) a portion of
the sensing input unit is positioned on the first display unit, but
doesn't not cover all of the first display unit and not any of the
second display unit covered; (b) all of the sensing input unit is
positioned on the first display unit, but doesn't not cover any of
the second display unit; (c) the first and second display units
have a respective sensing input unit in the electronic device Thus,
the selected object cannot be directly moved to the designated
position because the user input is not able to be continuously
detected as three situations stated above. Under these situations,
the processor 150 compares y, called Y coordinate value, in the
position data (x, y) with a first threshold value y.sub.th1, and
the Y coordinate value is set to be increasing from up to down.
When the sensing input unit 140 detects a user input, the processor
150 would generate a detecting value according to the user input
and record the detecting value. Then, the processor 150 would
perform a predetermined operation to generate a position data
(x.sub.Input, y.sub.Input) with a first y.sub.Input value of Y
coordinate. Here, we just take the y value of Y coordinate for
example; and x value of X coordinate is vice versa. If y.sub.Input
is greater than the first threshold value y.sub.th1, the processor
determines that the transfer behavior successfully moves or drags
the selected object from the first display unit to the second
display unit; otherwise, the processor determines that the transfer
behavior fails to move or drag the selected object from the first
display unit to the second display unit, and the selected object
stays in an original or another position in the first display unit.
Similarly, a second threshold value y.sub.th2 can be set for the
second display unit to determine whether the selected object
displayed on the second display unit is able to be moved to the
first display unit. The operation theory is same as the first
threshold value y.sub.th1, so further description is omitted here
for the sake of brevity.
[0028] As presented in FIG. 6, the processor 150 controls the first
display unit 120 to continuously display the first object when the
processor 150 controls the second display unit 130 to display the
second object, and the first object and the second object are the
same figure. In other words, the transferring behavior is copying
the first object displayed on the first display unit 120 to the
second display unit 130; this is, however, merely for illustrative
purposes, and is not a limitation of the application. For example,
the processor 150 can control the first display unit 120 not to
display the first object when the processor 150 controls the second
display unit 130 to display the second object. That is, the
transferring behavior enabled by the user input is dragging the
first object displayed on the first display unit 120 to the second
display unit 130. In other embodiments, the processor 150 can
further execute a predetermined program related to the first object
after moving (copying/dragging) the first object, such as executing
the predetermined program to play an audio/video file, to display
the time information and so on.
[0029] Please note that in the above embodiment, the first object
and the second object are the same figure; this is, however, not a
limitation of the application. In other embodiments, the first
object and the second object can be different figures respectively.
In addition, a presenting pattern of the second object is the same
as a presenting pattern of the first object (i.e., the presenting
pattern of the first and second object are both figures); this is,
however, is not a limitation of the application. In other
embodiments of the present invention, the presenting pattern of the
second object can differ from the presenting pattern of the first
object.
[0030] Please note that in the above embodiment, the second display
unit 130 is a flexible display; this is, however, is not a
limitation of the application. In other embodiments, the second
display unit can be a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) display,
a light emitting display (LED) or a non-volatile display (e.g., an
electronic paper). In addition, the electronic device 100 further
comprises a key switch, which is disposed under the second display
unit 130 and is figured to provide a user with a haptic feedback
when the user moves the finger on top of the sensing input unit
140. The key switch can be implemented by a dome switch, a membrane
or a mechanical switch.
[0031] Please note that in the above embodiment, the sensing input
unit 140 is a touch sensor (touch panel); this is, however, is not
a limitation of the application. In other embodiments, the sensing
input unit can be a non-touch sensor, such as a motion sensor
(e.g., a G-sensor or a Gyroscope), a light sensor, an ultrasonic
sensor or an image capturer. The user input detected and received
by the sensing input unit changes with the type of the sensing
input unit. For example, the user input can be detected by at least
one of the following movements: moving/waving the finger/pointer,
or moving/rotating/touching/patting the electronic device. Since
the corresponding relation between the different user inputs and
sensing input units should be readily appreciated by those skilled
in the art, further description is omitted here for the sake of
brevity.
[0032] Compared with the prior art, the electronic device of the
application comprises a secondary display screen (i.e., the second
display unit) and a touch panel (i.e., the sensing input unit). The
secondary display screen is not only for displaying the
information, but also be controlled via the touch panel to allow
the user to communicate with the electronic device of the
application in a more direct way.
[0033] Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous
modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made
while retaining the teachings of the application.
* * * * *